Does anyone use these? I stopped using the Stinger completely and started to use the Igla instead. However I find myself getting WAAAY more helicopter/jet kills with the M136/RPG. I don't know if buffing them is a fix but maybe allowing both to be equipped? Giving up the acoustic mine for the Igla is kind of a big choice, but is there some way to instead just buff these weapons?
First the ability to disable aircraft needs to be removed. That's step one. Didn't work on tanks and is breaks aircraft. Next, perhaps instead of not allowing these weapons to lock onto aircraft below radar, how about we change the lock on time of BELOW RADAR aircraft to be MUCH longer. Maybe 5 more seconds. Standing there trying to get a lock on while not getting shot is a good trade off in my opinion. This change in BELOW RADAR would only affect the hand held launchers and not any other lock on types like other aircraft missiles and the AA tank.
There is also the thought process in this of increasing the ammo carried and decreasing the damage of each rocket. Letting the rockets be more usable to deal damage to aircraft while decreasing the damage done. This would increase the threat to aircraft.
For example it would take 3 rockets to kill a jet instead of 2, but a little bird would still take 2 hits to kill. This is the same kind of buff to aircraft that tanks received.
I would rather it take me 3 shots to kill a jet than 2 shots to kill a jet or helicopter when those 2 shots will never hit or never get a chance to fire since I can't get a lock on.

They're both borderline useless unless someone uses the laser designator and at that point the Javelin can lock on so just use that instead since it can also target ground vehicles.

They're useless. You don't even get points for making people flare and flee or even assists if someone else gets the kill after you make someone flare. Aircraft have to be pretty much right on top of you if you want to get a hit and at that distance, you might as well just use the RPG/NLAW. You'll probably still have a better chance with those.
Only change I'd like to see with IGLA is that a missile can be relocked midflight if the flares dissipate and the aircraft is still in range.

If this was battlefield 4, just point at the sky and you'll give anyone flying within 600m a heart attack.
That's how it's supposed to be. But in bf6 they introduced a "below radar" mechanic, so anyone can dip to the ground to save themselves from being ganked by engineers or mobile aa's around the area.
The mechanic itself is so dumb, it's why you'll see tank drivers using tow missiles or guided shells to take out helicopters... because sure enough every helicopter in this game handles like ass so they're extremely vulnerable to tank cannons.
Then you got the mobile aa, which now has tow missiles and "high velocity missiles"... so if you take that ♥♥♥♥ with you in a small map like Eastwood or New Sobek City... you can spam the ♥♥♥♥ outta those missiles especially if you put a ammo crate near you at spawn. Almost nothing will be able to kill you that way because of the close proximity to c-ram and everyone in your spawn being able to snuff out infantry soldiers...
Even without those new missiles, as long as you use high velocity rounds or anti armor rounds you can destroy aircraft relatively quickly, even if they flying low... hell flying low is practically a death sentence if they're flying close enough to you

That's how it's supposed to be. But in bf6 they introduced a "below radar" mechanic, so anyone can dip to the ground to save themselves from being ganked by engineers or mobile aa's around the area.
Hate to break it to you, that was around in 2042 at it's release. So it's been in the series a hot minute. It was in other titles before that too. The reason being? Because it's a real life function of missiles not being able to get signatures of the aircraft from flying too low.
Being able to paint and lock on below radar is the relative new mechanic as far as I'm aware. And it's pretty effective. A good pilot has to stay far out of bounds and can't go into the playing field, which makes them a wasted asset if a recon keeps them painted and engineers are constantly going for them. This means Javelins, Iglas, Stingers, TOWs and any other launcher that is capable of locking on can fire at them (and yes, I've destroyed a little bird with a Javelin). It's a little more deadly with the javelins because they still attack at a top down angle if they're trying to hide behind hills if you happen to catch them in their air still when you've fired the round.

Hate to break it to you, that was around in 2042 at it's release.
2042 is a bad game so moving functions over is not a good idea.
So it's been in the series a hot minute. It was in other titles before that too.
The difference was that it didn't work against (all) MANPADs and some missiles were allowed to keep tracking if they had a lock.
The reason being? Because it's a real life function of missiles not being able to get signatures of the aircraft from flying too low.
Realism is a poor excuse because if that was the case the lock-on range would increase to >5km and the missiles would follow planes >3km up into the sky at a minimum.

Hate to break it to you, that was around in 2042 at it's release.
2042 is a bad game so moving functions over is not a good idea.
So it's been in the series a hot minute. It was in other titles before that too.
The difference was that it didn't work against (all) MANPADs and some missiles were allowed to keep tracking if they had a lock.
The reason being? Because it's a real life function of missiles not being able to get signatures of the aircraft from flying too low.
Realism is a poor excuse because if that was the case the lock-on range would increase to >5km and the missiles would follow planes >3km up into the sky at a minimum.
Ya, using your 5km to 3km example is silly because the borders don't even go that far. And if we're going into semantics, the javelin should have a range of over 1.6km or more, however, it doesn't, it only locks on up to ~450m or so. It's how they maintain balance for the game because it's an arcade sandbox, keyword arcade.
And if we're getting into more semantics, there's worse Battlefield games than 2042. Yes, it had it's issues, however, it resolved them rather fast compared to some of the other titles in the franchise and the majority of the player base became content and happy with the product.
Every Battlefield is different and will have it's own quirks. Whether it's up to an individual's taste is up to that person. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a "bad" game. If social media and content creators largely influence an individual's opinion on a game, it's not their taste that's been opined, it's only what they've heard and they're just cawing that opinion on repeat. And that's largely what 2042 was. The proof of that was the massive resurgence the months before BF6 and how much people were enjoying it.

There are many gadgets in this game that are useless. These are two of them. I think I might make a post listing all the terrible gadgets that need to be reworked or removed from the game. My philosophy on game design is simple, if there is an item in the game it should have some usefulness. There should always be a positive and a negative. The positive for the Igla/stinger would be to destroy aircraft and the negative is that you cannot destroy ground vehicles or infantry. Currently the positive is....there is no positive, just use an RPG/m136.

There are many gadgets in this game that are useless. These are two of them. I think I might make a post listing all the terrible gadgets that need to be reworked or removed from the game. My philosophy on game design is simple, if there is an item in the game it should have some usefulness. There should always be a positive and a negative. The positive for the Igla/stinger would be to destroy aircraft and the negative is that you cannot destroy ground vehicles or infantry. Currently the positive is....there is no positive, just use an RPG/m136.
I used the stinger the last two matches with about 30 lock-ons in a row. Not a single one made contact. "sKiLl IsSuE". By far the least fun I've had in this game.

i'm ok with IGLA and STINGER be useless just not "wall Challange" us behind them..now i need to assist and/or destroy enemy aircraft with the IGLA, just the fact Heli do not count it's silly, but in FIVE game playing only as AA Engy i manage to get ONE assit man that's a pain in the ass, i'm ok with using different type of primary but lock you into specific gadgets also near useless it's just stupid

They are effective, last match i killed 13 jets with them, you need to understand the news system

Lock on AA launchers are primarily a deterrent, forcing the enemy to use flares and fly below radar which carries its own risks. Even if it doesn't result in a kill it still greatly reduces how effective enemy air can be.

I used the IGLA for the 15 air support kills. It was pretty miserable. I think the self guided AT launcher is the best one now. I’d say the igla is great if you can bait the flares and then get 2 shots off simultaneously if you are coordinated with teammate, otherwise, it’s all in how good the pilot is.

Lock on AA launchers are primarily a deterrent, forcing the enemy to use flares and fly below radar which carries its own risks. Even if it doesn't result in a kill it still greatly reduces how effective enemy air can be.
what "risk"? helos can fly through trees, through power lines, literally bounce off the ground and not die. small arms fire is completely ineffective. there's no "risk" and you get functional immunity to all AA launchers.

Unwillingly I am. I am stuck trying to destroy 5 aircraft with the IGLA, and I mean this with complete and utter honesty, I have never hated this game as much as I do when I am trying to get those 5 IGLA kills.

Unwillingly I am. I am stuck trying to destroy 5 aircraft with the IGLA, and I mean this with complete and utter honesty, I have never hated this game as much as I do when I am trying to get those 5 IGLA kills.
there's a method via portal to get a bot match that provides ample helo targets to farm with the igla. have a look on the battlefield6 reddit and it should have the procedure.